Tell the untold (OUAH)
by J-Farraday
Summary: After Gaster succeeded at saving Noelle from death, Papyrus and Frisk pay him a visit to thank him. While they're here, Papyrus decides to take the chance and finally talk with Gaster about the times he's been treated as a test subject. (Features Handplates!Gaster and Handplates!Papyrus. This story is a midquel to my "Once Upon A Handplate" story.)


**This is a midquel to my "Once Upon A Handplate" story. It takes place right after chapter 34. If you haven't read the other story, you'll be kinda confused about the mentioned events or what's going on. Anyway, the main focus of this story is Gaster and Papyrus, are having a talk about the "Handplates" events. (Also yeah, Papyrus and Frisk are married in this story. Please don't judge.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters used. They all, along with "Undertale", belong to Toby Fox. "Handplates" and its version of Gaster belong to Zarla. I just own the events/plot of my own story and Noelle (who's only mentioned here).**

* * *

Gaster was sitting on the couch, slowly savouring a cup of coffee. The afternoon had been stressful and exhausting, considering the complex and uncertain procedure of creating an artificial monster SOUL for Asriel. Now that it was all over, Gaster could breathe out in relief. Asriel was now doing okay, despite the expected weakness, and could live a normal and hopefully long life. Gaster still barely believed that his risked plan worked. Not that he doubted his ingeniousity, but the possibility of creating an artificial SOUL was unheard of before. Succeeding to actually make one was a huge scientific breakthrough. Had this happened twenty or so years ago, Gaster would've gladly published a book about the discovery and success of this experimental procedure. The thought had briefly crossed his mind, actually. But he quickly remembered what this implied and chased it away. First, considering that he was closely supervised by the police as a punishement for his crimes, the skeleton should rather not attract attention. And second… revealing his success in creating a SOUL out of hybrid material would imply to publically expose Noelle's hybrid nature. Some curious and some not so well-intentioned people would want to know more about "how Noelle works", being half-human and half-monster. And Gaster couldn't allow that to happen. Not after just saving her life. Not after she helped him to get a second chance. So in the end, Gaster was just content that he could save both the prince Asriel and Noelle. Gaster thought again of the moment when Noelle thanked him for saving her. She had __hugged__ him. Gaster didn't reciprocate back then, but he did feel something. It was a similar feeling to the one he got when Papyrus (known as 2-P back then) would try to hug him when they were in the lab; a feeling Gaster would always ignore and chase away.  
A ring of the doorbell pulled Gaster out of his tired musing. With a sigh, Gaster put his mug aside and walked to the door to open it. He was only half-surprised to see who was there.  
"Papyrus..." - he said, seeing the skeleton he was just thinking of, then turning his head a little on the right, he saw Frisk being there too and added - "...and the human."  
"It's 'Frisk', remember?" - the woman reminded him.  
"...Right, __Frisk__." - Gaster corrected himself, making the human respond with a small grin - "So, what's the reason of your visit?"  
"WE CAME BECAUSE OF NOELLE." - Papyrus replied - "MAY WE COME IN?"  
After a brief moment of a nervous hesitation, Gaster answered:  
"Yes... Come in."  
When the couple entered the house, Gaster closed the door behind them. Papyrus and Frisk just stood there, in the middle of the living room, fidgetting mildly. Gaster gave them a weird look before saying:  
"Well, don't just stand like that. Sit."  
He said it as though it was the most obvious thing for them to do when they were in his house. However, it was clear that neither Papyrus or Frisk would feel really at ease around Gaster. But when Gaster told them to sit, the two did so without a word. Gaster of course noticed the nervousness the couple's body language displayed and he guessed he couldn't expect any different from them. The former scientist then sat down on his turn, but on the armrest to keep a minimal distance between him and the couple.  
"So?" - he broke the awkward silence - "What is it about Noelle you wanted to talk about? Is she feeling pain or discomfort after her recent experience, or..?"  
"NO, NO, NOELLE'S DOING FINE!" - Papyrus replied - "SHE'S CURRENTLY RESTING, MAYBE EVEN SLEEPING."  
"Fatigue is to be expected." - Gaster noted out loud.  
"Just like is hunger, I imagine?" - Frisk asked, to which Gaster nodded in response - "Because I've never seen her eat that much before."  
Frisk said that part with a light amused chuckle.  
"YES, SHE ATE THREE PLATES OF SPAGHETTI AT DINNER!" - Papyrus added.  
"A wolf appetite is normal too, considering her body's been sustained by artificial means… and that she needs to recover her strength after what happened."  
"That's what we've guessed. But if we came to see you, it's not because we have concerns about Noelle's condition." - Frisk pointed out.  
"WE CAME BECAUSE WE WANT TO PERSONALLY THANK YOU FOR SAVING OUR GIRL." - Papyrus said.  
"...Oh." - was all that Gaster said at first, not expecting that - "You're… welcome...? But you didn't have to come thank me for that."  
"BUT WHAT YOU DID IS BIG, AND SO JUST TEXTING YOU WOULDN'T BE A VERY APPROPRIATE ATTI-" - Papyrus started, but got cut off.  
"That's not what I meant, Papyrus." - Gaster said with a sigh - "I mean… Saving your daughter was the least I could do to… somehow fix what I did…"  
Gaster averted his gaze, not wanting to look at the couple. He knew that he wronged them on many levels, being the one who caused their family to break apart. It was because of him that Frisk and Papyrus lost their daughter for many years. (Not to mention other things he did to them both in the past.) Their presence and gratitude put a pressure on Gaster and so he felt the need to say something a good person would never say when thanked. Still avoiding the couple's gaze, he said quietly:  
"I didn't do it for you, nor even for Noelle. I did it for myself only."  
"Hm, since when you'd do something just to feel better about yourself?" - Frisk asked, not buying it - "From what Mom told me, you always had for habit to do things out of self-loathing."  
"YOU LOOKED VERY WORRIED WHEN WE BROUGHT NOELLE HERE. ALMOST AS IF YOU WERE... SCARED?" - Papyrus went on, making Gaster meet his gaze briefly - "I DON'T THINK YOU WOULD LOOK LIKE IT IF YOU DIDN'T CARE FOR NOELLE AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT."  
Gaster hated to admit how perceptive Papyrus could be. Just like he hated to admit that he was right. He did feel something for Noelle. But he also felt like he didn't have the right to display it, not after everything he's done to her.  
__"Noelle wants you to try forgive yourself. And to just enjoy all the good that's offered to you, already!" __  
Those words then echoed in Gaster's mind. Those words had been said by Asriel, when Noelle's SOUL was still in his body. The words said after he confessed something he did to nobody before. Despite what he's told her, Noelle still held no grudge towards him. __Still__, she… just wanted him to forgive himself for his mistakes and move on. __"It's so easier said than done…"__ \- Gaster mused.  
"I'M RIGHT, AIN'T I?" - Papyrus asked, sensing that he got a point - "I MEAN... WHY ELSE WOULD YOU SAVE NOELLE FROM FLOWEY WHEN SHE WAS THREE?"  
Gaster's head went upright at this, giving Papyrus a surprised, and slightly shocked, look.  
"What?" - he asked.  
"NOELLE TOLD US ABOUT THAT."  
"And we are very grateful for this too." - Frisk said gently - "So even back then, despite everything, you decided to save our daughter… This is honestly a very nice surprise, Dr Gaster."  
"You came to say 'thank you'? It's accepted." - Gaster said as he stood up - "Now it's getting late and the afternoon was very tiring for me. So I'd be on my part grateful if you leave now so I can rest."  
"YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE. I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT." - Papyrus replied after a pause - "BUT YOU KNOW… I WISH YOU AND I COULD... TALK ABOUT SOME THINGS. BECAUSE WE NEVER TRULY GOT TO TALK AFTER ASGORE SEPARATED US."  
Gaster closed his eyes, feeling his SOUL ache. He knew that this moment would come sooner or later. Many years passed since Alphys found the skeleton brothers down in his old lab. That day, Asgore took the boys under his care, and fired Gaster from his Royal Scientist position. Since then, Gaster has barely spoke to anyone, trapped in his own remorse and self-loathing, until he launched the De-Code. He even less had any contact with his former test subjects, only hearing every once in a while from other monsters how they've been doing. And now… after all those years, Papyrus declares that he wants to talk about all this. How could he? He hasn't really talked with anyone about his crimes in the lab since the day Asgore took the skeleton brothers away from him.  
Since Gaster didn't straight off reject Papyrus' suggestion to talk, Frisk guessed that he probably was willing to do so. The young woman decided she'd give them some private space and so, she stood up from the couch and said:  
"By the way, I wanted go see how the twins are doing after all the stress, you know. And just chat about stuff."  
"Be my guest…" - Gaster said with a heavy sigh, understanding that the difficult talk was unavoidable - "The kids are upstairs."  
"Thank you." - Frisk then squeezed her husband's shoulder and said - "Take your time."  
Papyrus nodded his head, before Frisk went upstairs. And so, the two skeletons were left alone in the living room. Papyrus was still sitting at the same spot, while Gaster was slightly leaning against the armrest. Neither of them dared to say a word for a while, feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Where did they even start?  
"SO I-"  
"So you-"  
Both skeletons started simultanuously and thus they stopped at once. After a shorter moment of silence, Gaster made a hand gesture inviting to go on, while saying:  
"You wanted to talk. So… just let out whatever you have in mind."  
"IT'S... IT'S DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS IT ALL IN WORDS..." - Papyrus started awkwardly - "I... I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT OUR COMMON PAST FOR MANY YEARS AND YET I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START…"  
"Do you perhaps... want to know __why__?" - Gaster suggested quietly.  
"WELL, SANS AND I GOT TO FIGURE OUT WHY YOU MADE US AND WHY YOU… HURT US. SO THAT'S NOT A QUESTION I ASK MYSELF." - Papyrus replied, then looked down - "BUT I __WAS__ WONDERING IF YOU…"  
He then paused, as though afraid to continue.  
"Go on." - Gaster encouraged him - "Whatever it is, I won't judge. Considering what I've done to you, it's only your right to get all the answers you need. I'll… try my best to answer."  
"OKAY..." - Papyrus breathed out nervously, before asking his question - "WHAT I WAS WONDERING FOR SO LONG NOW IS… IF YOU EVER LIKED ME AND SANS… JUST A LITTLE?"  
The question left Gaster stunned. His facial expression was as neutral, but his body has tensed. Papyrus kept going:  
"I... I'M SORRY TO ASK YOU THAT BUT… BEFORE YOU DRILLED THE PLATES INTO OUR HANDS, YOU… SOMETIMES YOU SEEMED KINDA... NICE TO US..? I KNOW NOW WHY YOU MADE US AND THAT HURTING US WAS YOUR PLAN ALL ALONG, BUT I OFTEN THINK ABOUT THOSE TIMES YOU WEREN'T THAT BAD TO US, AND SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK OF ALL THAT..! SO, DID YOU OR NOT LIKE US?"  
"I..."  
Gaster started to breathe deeper and longer, as he felt his body tremble. Papyrus grew concerned for his creator and was about to ask if he was alright, but Gaster finally spoke.  
"...I did." - he said with a slightly trembling tone - "And I... still do."  
Another pause followed and Papyrus' eyes roundened just a bit. The younger skeleton was more or less prepared to hear the negative answer, but despite his inner hopes, he didn't expect hearing what Gaster just said.  
"Wait here." - Gaster requested him.  
He then went in his study, to return a minute later with a paper in his hand. Gaster sat down on the couch and handed the paper to Papyrus. The latter took the paper with a curious look and when he unfolded it, he got surprised to see a very old childish drawing.  
"WAIT, ISN'T IT...?"  
"Yes, it's a drawing of us three you once made when you were in the lab." - Gaster replied - "It was before I started to experiment on you."  
"YOU KEPT THAT DRAWING ALL THOSE YEARS?" - Papyrus asked with a touched expression.  
"As you can see, I did. But also… during some harsh times I'd… give it a look." - Gaster admitted - "As I was letting my SOUL be consumed by darkness, I'd look at the drawing and think of what could've been. What could've been if I had… cancelled the project."  
"SO YOU'VE... BEEN THINKING ABOUT CANCELLING IT? ABOUT NOT HURTING US?"  
"I've thought about it more times than you'd think." - Gaster replied with a light nod - "I had so many chances to cancel the project, I was so close to do so at many instances. And yet…"  
Gaster dared to meet his former subject's eyes and what he saw pained him. Because he saw that his words moved Papyrus a lot and probably made him happy on some level. Gaster then looked down and said quietly:  
"I'm sorry, Papyrus... I'm so sorry for all that I did to you… and your brother… And I'm sorry that I let you down. You were seeing that I could change and I just didn't meet your expectations. There's no excuse for what I did, but I truly regret it."  
Gaster then saw that Papyrus was on edge of tears. Papyrus then moved closer to him, but then stopped. Gaster gave him a questioning look, even though he suspected what Papyrus wanted to do.  
"I... SORRY, I JUST WANTED TO..." - Papyrus apologized - "I'M JUST SO HAPPY TO HEAR YOU APOLOGIZE AND SAY THAT YOU DID LIKE ME AND MY BROTHER… THAT YOU DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO HURT US. I'VE DREAMED ABOUT YOU SAYING THIS SO OFTEN AND NOW YOU DID IT FOR REAL, AND I JUST… WANT TO... HUG YOU. IS THAT OKAY IF I HUG YOU..? BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO, IT'S OKAY, I'M KINDA USED TO THIS..."  
"You can." - Gaster replied.  
"R-REALLY..?"  
Gaster simply nodded. The way Papyrus was moved by his confession and apology moved him too, and for some reason Gaster didn't have the heart to refuse him a hug this time too. He's always rejected him before, he owed Papyrus to give him what he wanted at least once. The next thing Gaster knew was that he was wrapped in Papyrus' embrace. After a moment, Gaster slowly laid one hand over Papyrus' shoulder. This made Papyrus tighten the embrace. Gaster wasn't exactly hugging back, but it was already something. But most imporantly, he didn't reject him and this made him happy! Then, Papyrus asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.  
"YOU... YOU'VE SUFFERED IN THAT LAB TOO, RIGHT..?"  
Gaster didn't reply, but Papyrus could tell that his statement was correct. There was no way Gaster didn't suffer, considering what he just told him. Slowly, Papyrus then pulled away and said:  
"I... I FORGIVE YOU."  
Gaster closed his eyes and nodded slowly, as in a wordless moved "thank you". Even though Gaster knew that Papyrus would forgive him, hearing him say those words hit him straight in his SOUL.  
"I'M WONDERING IF IT WOULD BE OKAY FOR YOU IF I..." - Papyrus paused, then pursued - "...IF I COULD COME BY SOMETIMES. SO WE CAN TALK TOGETHER ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS."  
"You want to visit me?" - Gaster asked surprised.  
"YES. I WANT TO KNOW YOU... THE GOOD SIDE OF YOU BETTER. IF YOU DON'T MIND, OF COURSE."  
"It would be nice."  
When Gaster said those words, Papyrus could swear he saw a very tiny shadow of a smile on his face. And this too made him happy.  
"You know, that photo of Noelle you sent me..." - Gaster started, making Papyrus look at him curiously - "I was shocked, but also very touched by your gesture. Thank you for letting me know that I have a-... that __you__ have a daughter."  
"NYEHEHEH, I KNEW I DID THE RIGHT THING BACK THEN!" - Papyrus exclaimed, wiping a tear from his eyesocket - "SANS TOLD ME I WAS CRAZY TO DO SO, BUT FRISK HAS SUPPORTED ME IN THAT DECISION."  
Gaster chuckled weakly at this. Also, it was nice to hear Papyrus laugh around him. Gaster knew there was a long way to go to forgive himself and to make amends for what he did in the lab. But it did no longer feel impossible.

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**A/N: It's very likely that the readers of my main fanfic wanted something where Gaster apologizes to Papyrus about his actions in the lab. I think it was important too, so voilà! **

**So, after this point you can say that Gaster started to build a relationship of a sort with Papyrus. Things won't work that easily with Sans, but that was to be expected. **

**Frisk points out how Gaster often does things out of self-loathing, which we know is true. Gaster doesn't do things to make himself feel as being a better person. The De-Code was sort of an exception, but at the same time… not really. Because he knew that the De-Code was a very wrong thing to do, and he did so exactly because he knew he failed at being a good person and didn't want to feel the weight of his sins anymore. But it didn't make him feel better as a person at all, quite the opposite. (This has been stated more than once in the main story.) **

**Also, Frisk knows about some of Gaster's issues from Toriel, like she stated. Toriel on her hand deduced Gaster's habit to do things out of self-loathing from finding out about Sans and Papyrus' origins. Before that, she didn't know exactly what was going on in his psyche, but she had suspicions about his issues, and the skelebros case only made her see clearer on the point. **


End file.
